Cairo, Egypt, January 29, 2002
—The International Finance Corporation will lend up to US$6 million to Egyptian manufacturer, Al-Amir for Sanitary Ware Production SAE (Al-Amir), to construct a state-of-the-art greenfield facility for the production of vitreous china ceramic sanitary ware.
The $12 million project—which is located in the 10th of Ramadan Industrial City in Egypt— will have a strong developmental impact, creating up to 200 skilled and semi-skilled jobs. It will also help meet the needs of the Egyptian market by capitalizing on the established distribution network of the sponsor, Porcelain and Ceramic Al-Amir SAE.
Mr. Sami Haddad, Director of IFC’s Middle East and North Africa Department, noted the positive impact of the project on the Egyptian economy. “We expect the Al-Amir project to cater not only to the domestic market but also to the international market. It will help boost Egypt’s export competitiveness and contribute to foreign exchange earnings—a key objective of the government given the country’s relatively low export performance in comparison to countries at similar income levels.”
The investment in Al-Amir fits with IFC’s Egypt strategy, which includes providing support to medium-sized enterprises and the promotion of internationally competitive ventures.
IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Since its founding in 1956 through the close of the last fiscal year on June 30, 2001, IFC committed more than $31 billion of its own funds and arranged $20 billion in syndications for 2,636 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s committed portfolio at the end of FY01 was $14.3 billion.
